What Lies Beneath (2000)

The wife of a university research scientist believes that her lakeside Vermont home is haunted by a ghost - or that she's losing her mind.

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers:

Clark Gregg (screenplay), Sarah Kernochan (story),

Stars:

Michelle Pfeiffer, Katharine Towne, Miranda Otto

4 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Claire Spencer
Katharine Towne	...	Caitlin Spencer
Miranda Otto	...	Mary Feur
James Remar	...	Warren Feur
Harrison Ford	...	Norman Spencer
Victoria Bidewell	...	Beatrice
Diana Scarwid	...	Jody
Dennison Samaroo	...	PhD Student #1
Jennifer Tung	...	PhD Student #2
Eliott Goretsky	...	Teddy
Rachel Singer	...	PhD Student #3
Daniel Zelman	...	PhD Student #4
Ray Baker	...	Dr. Stan Powell
Wendy Crewson	...	Elena
Amber Valletta	...	Madison Elizabeth Frank

Storyline

Norman Spencer, a university research scientist, is growing more and more concerned about his wife, Claire, a retired concert cellist who a year ago was involved in a serious auto accident, and who has just sent off her daughter Caitlin (Norman's stepdaughter) to college. Now, Claire reports hearing voices and witnessing eerie occurrences in and around their lakeside Vermont home, including seeing the face of a young woman reflected in water. An increasingly frightened Claire thinks the phenomena have something to do with the couple living next door, especially since the wife has disappeared without apparent explanation. At her husband's urging, Claire starts to see a therapist; she tells him she thinks the house is being haunted by a ghost. His advice? Try to make contact. Enlisting the help of her best friend, Jody, and a ouija board, Claire seeks to find out the truth of What Lies Beneath.

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Plot Keywords:

research | secret | vermont | ghost | college | 

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Taglines:

He was the perfect husband until his one mistake followed them home.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for terror/violence, sensuality and brief language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 July 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Revelaciones

Filming Locations:

Burlington, Vermont, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,258,893 (UK) (20 October 2000)

Gross:

ESP 2,285,968,301 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, ImageMovers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Throughout the film, Claire's (Michelle Pfeiffer) eyes are more grayish, although they are blue. In the scene where Claire allows Madison (Amber Veletta) to posses her body, her eyes are a darker shade of blue. This is because director Robert Zemeckis wanted to emphasize the eye color change from blue to green so as to make it easier to identify the "change of character". Contact lenses were used to make this feature-change.

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Goofs

During the seance scene where Claire and Jody are using the Ouija board, in one angle the handpiece shows a "T" through it and in the next shot there is a different letter (with no movement).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Claire Spencer: Good morning, Beauty. Let's go or we'll never leave on time.
Caitlin Spencer: I'm totally ready.
Claire Spencer: Come on. I'll make you some waffles.

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Crazy Credits

Just as the final scene at the cemetery fades out to the closing credits, you can briefly see the shadows on the snow forming a face across the entire screen.

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Million Dollar Movie Week 3 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"The Four Seasons: Autumn"
Composed by Antonio Vivaldi

User Reviews

Solidly creepy chiller

A good old-fashioned scary movie, avoiding irony and self-referentialism at every turn, this film relies on a nice premise and some well-executed creepy atmosphere for its impact. Pfeiffer and Ford work well together as a middle-aged couple, with Pfeiffer particularly effective as the homey (though obviously ridiculously beautiful) mother left alone when her daughter heads off to college, working herself up into a panic at various, vaguely spooky goings-on around the place. The film plays its cards close to its chest throughout, working the old game of keeping the audience guessing for a good while ? is there really something supernatural going on, is it some kind of creepy but human plot, or is it all in her head? Of course it's all revealed in the end, in a solidly scary, thrilling and well-executed finale. A classic it ain't, but it has a kind of workmanlike, reliable quality oozing out of every scene.